Gallatin rolls over Pacers

Switzerland County assistant coach Wayne Ellegood (above, far left) and head coach Ashley Chase can only watch as their Pacers get dismantled by Gallatin County on Thursday. (Staff photos by David Campbell)

Gallatin County jumped on Switzerland County from the opening tip and rolled to a 68-31 win in the opening round of the North American Stainless Classic in Carrollton on Thursday.

The Wildcats never trailed and closed the first quarter on a 19-0 run to pull ahead 21-2 after just eight minutes. Switzerland County never had a chance against a stifling Gallatin man-to-man defense that produced nearly as many turnovers (30) as the Pacers had points.

"We haven't seen that kind of defense since the opener against Madison," Switzerland coach Ashley Chase said. "They're a very impressive team. There wasn't much we could do."

Sisters Hannah and Brooke Dossett did the majority of Gallatin's damage, combining to score 43 of the Wildcats' 68 points. And they did so in a variety of ways.

The pair combined to hit five 3-pointers and were in on nearly every fast break. When they weren't scoring, they were setting up teammates.

Chase, herself a former standout high school and Division I signee, had nothing but respect for the two Gallatin stars.

"I had seen them on tape but in person they were much better," Chase said. "Every time Hannah put the ball up you just expected it to go in. And they both ran the floor well and were smart. I was very impressed.

It was Brooke Dossett who got Gallatin started with a short jumper in the lane and Switzerland's Bre Ricketts answered with a transition layup to tie the score 2-2.

The rest of the game belonged to Gallatin. Hannah Dossett broke the tie with a baseline drive and moments later, knocked down the first of her three 3-pointers to ignite the Wildcats' big run.

Gallatin (8-2) led 21-2 after the first quarter and 47-13 at halftime. The lead reached 60-26 heading into the fourth quarter which was played with a running clock per KHSAA rules.

Hannah Dossett led all scorers with 25 points and Brooke Dossett scored 18. Eve Galbreath led Switzerland County with nine points.

"One of things we told them is there wasn't much we could do about this one. Now we just have to move on," Chase said. "We have two more games in this tournament and we have to be ready to play tomorrow. We feel like we have a good chance to win both games and we have a tournament that we can win next week. We need to learn from this game and use it."

In the final game of the day, Cooper defeated Taylor County 58-22. Gallatin County will play Cooper in the semifinals today while Switzerland plays Taylor County in the consolation round.